'bamboozle' originates from English; the word is first recorded in the late 17th century and is likely a humorous coinage of uncertain origin rather than a direct borrowing from another language.

'bamboozle' appears in late 1600s English slang and remained largely unchanged in form and meaning into modern English; it may be related to or influenced by other playful or expressive verbs of the period (e.g. 'bumfuzzle'), but no definite single source is known.

Initially used in earlier English to mean 'to perplex or confound' and soon developed the stronger sense 'to trick or deceive'; that core meaning has remained into modern usage.